It’s not a matter of if, but when the next natural or man-made disaster will occur. To stay prepared and ready for anything, Canine Disaster Search Teams must constantly hone their skills through intensive training – and what better place to do that than SDF’s National Training Center, specifically designed for Disaster Search Dogs and their Handlers to train for the inevitable?
SDF welcomed SDF-trained teams Roxanne Bauman & Cole and Madison Warner & Tanner to the NTC February 13-15 to brush up on their search strategy and overall skills in preparation for their Certification Evaluation. (Read the results of their test here!)
Then, on February 24, Canine Disaster Search Teams from California Task Force 1 and California Task Force 2, both based in LA, teamed up at our NTC to train on search logistics, GPS usage, search markings as well as other search skills needed when they deploy nationally or internationally after a disaster.
As you may remember, California Task Force 2 is one of only two internationally deployable task forces in the United States. To ensure that they are ready to deploy abroad at a moment’s notice, the Task Force undergoes a thorough evaluation annually, and have been taking advantage of the multiple search sites available at the NTC to test their skills.
As you can imagine, it is extremely important that the evaluation process is a success and the Canine Search Specialist component of the Task Force is making sure that they are ready!
“Taking advantage of our closer proximity to the NTC, we’re fortunate to have a site like this for training purposes. These larger scale exercises are preparing our Task Force for an evaluation we will be undergoing soon in order to ensure we continue to meet high standards for international deployment-readiness. It’s also crucial training for when it’s time to put our skills to use in the real world. The more hands-on experience our teams can get under their belt before disasters strike, the better prepared we’ll be when the call actually comes.” – Captain Dennis Clark, California Task Force 2 Canine Coordinator and handler of Rugby
Click below to see each individual photo from our slideshow:
